American pop-punk-rock-ska band
Salvo
|
---|
Also known as
| Pain
|
---|
Origin
| Tuscaloosa, Alabama
, US
|
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Genres
| |
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Years active
| |
---|
Labels
| |
---|
|
Members
|
- Tommy Bowen
- Niamh Tuohy Fields
- Adam Guthrie
- Will Hudson
- Christopher Johnson
- George Kennedy
- Dan Lord
- Stuart McNair
- Jason Reid
- Rachael Roberts
- Melanie Rodgers
- Kim Scott
- Demondrae Thurman
- Rachael Wilson
|
---|
|
Past members
|
- Liz Milewicz
- Mark "Pose" Milewicz
|
---|
|
Website
| salvo
.band
|
---|
Salvo
(formerly
Pain
) is a 14-member band from the
southeastern United States
. Originally formed by
Alabama
high school
friends, Pain played music variously described as
pop punk
,
punk rock
, and ska; toured worldwide; and released four albums. Though the group was effectively in stasis after the
bandleader
left, they reformed in 2019 as Salvo, and released a new album called
Off the Charts
.
History
[
edit
]
Pain was formed in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
in 1994 by
McGill?Toolen Catholic High School
[1]
friends
Dan Lord
(born in 1970 or 1971),
[2]
Mark "Pose" Milewicz,
[3]
and Adam Guthrie. Guthrie was a guitarist-songwriter,
[1]
Milewicz played
bass guitar
,
[4]
and Lord became the band's
songwriter
and lead singer.
[2]
Pain logo from the 1990s
In 1998,
Ted Turner
contacted Pain's
publicist
and contracted with the band to produce some original music for
Jabberjaw
.
[4]
The "pop-punk four-piece rock band with a three-piece horn section and keyboards",
[1]
over its six years, performed on
MTV2
, shared a ticket with
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
,
[4]
received airtime on the radio, worked with
The WB
, sold CDs worldwide, and was even shut down mid-song by another band?
Train
?for drawing away their fans at a 1999 concert.
[2]
In 2000,
[1]
while the band was talking with interested
record labels
, Lord shut down Pain to pursue his
religious calling
.
[2]
Lord received his
Master of Theology
from
University of Dallas
,
[5]
married, became an author, and as of January 2013
[update]
, lived in
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
and taught at
Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist
in nearby
Charleston
.
[2]
In 2019, Lord's abrupt dissolution of Pain, and the subsequent effects on band members' lives, were still a touchy subject with those involved.
[1]
In the years leading up to 2019, Lord continued writing music and found that most of his new material was best-suited as Pain songs. Reconnecting with Guthrie, the two agreed that these new tracks should be recorded and released. When Milewicz declined to return, Lord and Guthrie felt it was inappropriate to call the group Pain without one of its co-founders, and so they called the new lineup Salvo.
[3]
After what their new
record label
(Earth Libraries) called "a gigantic break",
[6]
Salvo was scheduled to release the first album under the new name (
Off the Charts
) in
Mobile, Alabama
on September 13, 2019.
[7]
Membership
[
edit
]
Lord, Guthrie, and Milewicz formed Pain in 1994. George Kennedy joined on drums in 1998,
[1]
and Milewicz' wife Liz played
keyboard
.
[4]
In Guthrie's 2019 interview with
BroadwayWorld
, he recalled that there was a "feeling of 'us against them
'
" between the founding band members and those who joined after the fact, almost a hierarchy where older members outranked the newer ones.
[8]
Salvo's lineup hails from all across the
southeastern United States
:
South Carolina
,
Georgia
,
Alabama
(
Birmingham
,
Spanish Fort
,
Mobile
), and
New Orleans
. Lord, Guthrie, and Kennedy returned as
lead vocalist
,
guitarist
, and drummer respectively. Other Pain alumni that returned were Stuart McNair on
horns
and
accordion
;
[1]
Niamh Tuohy Fields on
violin
; George Kennedy on drums; Jason Reid; Christopher Johnson; and Demondrae Thurman.
[3]
New members of the ensemble include Will Hudson, Rachael Wilson, Melanie Rodgers, Kim Scott, Rachael Roberts, and Tommy Bowen.
[7]
Music
[
edit
]
In February 1997, Lord took to the band's website to categorically deny that Pain was a
ska
band: "There are a lot of styles we emulate and ain't none of 'em from the island of Jamaica. So please, PLEASE, unless you're just havin' some fun with us, don't call us a ska band."
[9]
Despite this, Art Howard in
Feedback
described the band as "pop-ska-punk" in 1999, saying "their songs are actually bouncy, upbeat anthems about 'kooky kids, lovely girls, and people we hate.
'
"
[4]
In 2013,
The Post and Courier
described Pain's music as
punk rock
, known for its "upbeat lyrics and melodies, including a
horn section
, and Lord's semi-hyperactive antics."
[2]
BroadwayWorld
made comparisons to
Green Day
and
Fishbone
in their 2019 article.
[8]
Lord himself boiled down Pain's musical style to "happy".
[3]
Salvo continues Pain's tradition of "being real heavy on the
melodies
and horn parts and being upbeat", though Lord noted subtle, indescribable changes due to the band's age that allow the band's product to sound like Pain, evolved.
[3]
Earth Libraries described Salvo's music as similar to Pain's, but with "a new maturity and mastery".
[6]
AL.com
described Salvo's
pop punk
offerings as similar to an eclectic
Green Day
, the horns & guitars evoked
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
, and the "incisive yet playful intelligence in the lyrics" calls to mind
Barenaked Ladies
and
They Might Be Giants
.
[1]
Albums
[
edit
]
Pain released four albums.
[6]
Midgets with Guns
album was released in Australia in mid-1997, while the single off that record ("Square Pegs") was available for
US$6
(equivalent to $11.39 in 2023).
[10]
Wonderful Beef
was released in the United States on November 18, 1997;
[11]
the album has 13 songs, including "The Song of the Seven Inch Cowboy".
[12]
Full Speed Ahead
was scheduled to be released by
Vegas Records
on October 19, 1999.
[4]
Salvo's 2019 album was a
crowdfunding
success:
[3]
Off the Charts
was recorded at
Ol Elegante
in
Birmingham, Alabama
, and was planned for release on
CD
,
vinyl
, and
digitally
.
[6]
A release party was scheduled for September 13 & 14, 2019 in
Mobile, Alabama
.
[7]
Reception
[
edit
]
According to
AL.com
, Pain had "big following[s]" in the
southeastern
and
West Coast of the United States
.
[1]
In 2019, filmmaker Rebecca Pugh (fiancee to Adam Guthrie) premiered her
documentary film
about Pain,
Anthem for the Middle Aged Band
in
Birmingham, Alabama
.
[8]
At Salvo's first performance in
Birmingham, Alabama
in May 2019, the venue was sold out. Salvo drummer George Kennedy said, "The coolest thing about that show was, I thought it was going to be a bunch of old geezers like us, […] It was a bunch of people who could not have been more than 2 years old when Pain broke up, singing every lyric to us. The whole experience was euphoric."
[1]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
Specker, Lawrence (September 10, 2019).
"Not the same old Pain: '90s Alabama rock band gets second life as Salvo"
.
AL.com
.
Advance Publications
.
Archived
from the original on September 14, 2019
. Retrieved
September 18,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Hawes, Jennifer Berry (January 19, 2013).
"From rock to religion Punk singer finds joy in becoming devout Catholic educator"
.
The Post and Courier
.
Archived
from the original on August 15, 2019
. Retrieved
August 15,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Centanni, Stephen (January 30, 2019).
"Old Pain, New Salvo"
.
Lagniappe
.
Archived
from the original on February 7, 2019
. Retrieved
August 21,
2019
.
Former members of Pain, including vocalist Dan Lord, guitarist Adam Guthrie and horn player Stuart McNair, have reunited under the name Salvo to record a new album due out in May.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Howard, Art (October 1999).
"The Pleasure of Pain!"
.
Feedback
.
Archived
from the original on September 27, 2019
. Retrieved
October 23,
2019
.
The pop-ska-punks talk about working with Jabberjaw and their fight with a major Atlanta club.
- ^
"Dan Lord"
.
Catholic Answers
.
Archived
from the original on August 15, 2019
. Retrieved
August 15,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Salvo"
. Earth Libraries.
Archived
from the original on August 15, 2019
. Retrieved
August 15,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Salvo Album Release Party Night 1"
. Visit Mobile.
Archived
from the original on July 31, 2019
. Retrieved
August 15,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
Perry, David Edward (August 30, 2019).
"BWW Interview: ANTHEM FOR THE MIDDLE AGED BAND Energetically Brings The Band Back Together at The Sidewalk Film Festival"
.
BroadwayWorld
.
Archived
from the original on October 23, 2019
. Retrieved
October 23,
2019
.
- ^
Lord, Dan (February 2, 1997).
"2 February 1997"
. Pain. Archived from
the original
on December 11, 2008
. Retrieved
August 15,
2019
.
- ^
Milewicz, Mark (July 1997).
"July 1997"
. Pain. Archived from
the original
on April 19, 2001
. Retrieved
August 15,
2019
.
- ^
Milewicz, Mark (December 12, 1997).
"12 December 1997"
. Pain. Archived from
the original
on June 22, 2001
. Retrieved
August 15,
2019
.
- ^
Milewicz, Mark (September 17, 1997).
"17 September 1997"
. Pain. Archived from
the original
on June 19, 2001
. Retrieved
August 15,
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]